Heating system



April 29, 1941. J. R. MONROE 51-31. 4 2,240,222

HEATING SYSTEM.

Filed D66. 18, 1959 Fig.1.

. I 1 BB I ,I'IAIIII'I l'd 6 (I meg Patented Apr. 29, 1941 HEATING SYSTEM John R. Monroe and John D. Monroe, Tacoma,

Wash

Application December 18, 1939, Serial No. 309,812

1 Claim.

This invention relates to heating systems, especially to those adapted to maintain an even temperature in the rooms of a dwelling.

The objects of our invention are, first, to providemeans for distributing, in a uniform manner, the heat of the system to the floors of the rooms to be heated; second, to provide means for transferring a portion of the heat from the heated room to an unheated room; third, to provide means for admitting fresh cool air into the rooms; fourth, to provide means for circulating the heated water through the system and to control such circulation by the temperature of the rooms; fifth, to provide means for controlling the fuel supply system by the temperature of the water being circulated; sixth, to provide automatic means for enclosing the heat in the boiler when the fuel supply is not being actuated, thereby conserving the heat within the boiler and applying it to the heat exchange therein; seventh, to provide means for circulating the water in a portion of the system by natural circulation, in a counter direction, when "the main circulating means is inactive; and eighth, to provide a system of great simplicity, of automatic action and great economy.

We attain these and other objects by the means illustrated in the drawing in which Fig. 1 shows the system in a diagrammatic manner, and Fig. 2 is a section of the building fioor, showing the longitudinal and cross passages under the floor.

The building is constructed in the usualmanner except as to the construction of the floor or floors. As illustrated, the floor structure comprises a series of joists i, on top of which a subfloor comprising a series of separated crosspieces 2 is laid, such cross-pieces 2 may be composed of 2" x 4 or 2" x 6 studding, separated by substantial distances and laid preferably at right-angles to the joists I. The finish floor 3 is laid on top of the said cross-pieces 2, thus forming passages 4 of the spaces between the said cross-pieces 2 and thus connecting all the floor area with the spaces between the joists I. The lower surface of the floor is ceiled by securing to the lower side of the joists I a material, such as plaster, plaster board, plywood panels, or other suitable material 5, thus forming a closed space 6 between the floor 3 and the under ceiling 5.

A suitable system of heating pipes, indicated by the pipe I, is mounted in the several longitudinal passages between the several joists I and under the rooms specially desired to be heated, and these pipes I may be provided with a spiral radiating fin 8 adapted to conduct the heat from the pipes and distribute it to the air in the said enclosure 5. Since the passages 4 connect all the several spaces between the joists l together, it is evident that the heat in the enclosure 6 is distributed over the floor 3 over the said enclosure 6, and that the floor Will be evenly heated thereby. I I

It may be desired not to heat certain rooms to the same degree as the main living rooms and yet to provide them with some heat during the heating period, in this case the heating pipes 'i would not extend under these rooms andthey would re ceive a less degree of heat than would those rooms directly over the said pipes, yet a portion of the heat from the space 5 would keep the floor of said rooms somewhat warm. Also, it may be desired, to thoroughly warm these same rooms, on occasion, and this is accomplished in the following manner. A partition 9 is erected in the space 5 to form a conduit. A fan chamber I0 is suspended below the under ceiling 5 and is connected to the space 5 by an opening II. A fan I2 is mounted within the chamber I9 and delivers the air therefrom into the above conduit formed by the partition 9. An air filter I3 may be mounted in the chamber I6 between the fan and the opening I I. A register I 4 is provided in the floor 3 of the heated room, and another register i5 is provided in the floor 3 of the unheated room. A suitable electric motor I6 drives the fan I2. Thus, when the fan I2 is operated, it sucks air from the heated room through the register I 4, past the heating pipes I, through the opening I I, the filter I3, and forces it into the conduit and thus into the unheated room or rooms by the register I5.

In case fresh air is desired in the rooms, we provide a conduit I1 adjacent the fan chamber I0, connecting with the outside of the building and connected to the chamber III by a controlled doorway I8, so that when the doorway I8 is opened and the fan is operated, the fresh air is drawn in through the conduit H, the doorway I8, and the air filter I3 and is delivered through the register I5 into the rooms.

In the summer cold water may be circulated in the pipes I, by alternate connections, not shown, to cool the air under the floor 3 and this cool air may-be circulated through the roomsv by means of the fan I2, as above described.

The heat generator preferred comprises a water-tube boiler consisting of two end castings, the first ofwhich is divided into two chambers I9 and 20 by the division wall 2|, and the other of which comprises one single chamber 22 coextensive with the two chambers l9 and 20, said single chamber 22 being connected to the other two chambers i9 and 29 by means of water tubes 23 extending across the combustion chamber 24 of the boiler and comprising the main heat exchange. The fuel used in this boiler is preferably fuel oil, though other fuels may be used, and is fed into the burner, together with air, by means of an electric motor 25 which is controlled by hereinafter described means. The burner is cooled by a water jacket 26 connected to the boiler by suitable pipes. The flame of the burner is first conducted into a funnel-shaped chamber and thus into the combustion chamber, through the heat exchange in the combustion chamber 24 and thus give up their heat to the water in, preferably copper, water tubes 23, and pass up through the opening 27 in the top thereof to the smoke chamber 28 and so out to the chimney of the building. The opening 2'! is controlled by means of a valve plate 29 having a stem 39 passing upward through the top of the boiler where it is connected to the armature of the solenoid 3!, which is mounted in series with the above described motor 25 of the burner, in such manner that when the motor 25 is actuated to cause the burner to operate, the solenoid is also actuated to raise the plate valve 29 from the opening 21, and thus permit the egress of the gases from the combustion chamber 24, while as soon as the motor 25 is cut ofi, the solenoid drops the plate valve 29 over the opening 2'! and holds most of the heat in the combustion chamber where it continues to heat the Water in the tubes 23.

A return pipe 32 leads from the floor-heating pipe system 2, through a dovmward-opening check-valve 33 to the upper chamber IQ of the boiler. A delivery pipe 34 leads from the lower chamber 20 of the boiler to the circulating pump 35 and to the lower end of the Water-heater tank 36, which tank is connected at its upper end by a pipe 3'! to an upward-opening check-valve 38 and thence by a pipe 39 to the other end of the floor-heating pipe system I. The above-mentioned circulating pump 35 is operated by an electric motor 46 which is controlled by hereinafter described means. It will be observed that the direction of flow in the pipes, when the motor 4D is in operation, is as shown by the arrows adjacent the pipes in the drawing and that this direction within the boiler is from the chamber H) by the upper tubes 23 to the upper part of the chamber 22, downward in this chamber 22 and through the lower tubes 23 to the chamber 20 and out by the delivery pipe 34. However, the return pipe 32 is connected, near the boiler, to the upper end of the water-heating tank 36 by means of a connecting pipe 4| and the outwardopening check-valve 42, so that if the circulating pump 35 is not in operation and the fuel burner motor 25 is in operation, the water in the boiler will reverse its direction of travel upward from the chamber 20 and in the chamber 22 to the chamber l9, thence upward in the lower part of the return pipe 32 to the connecting pipe 4|, through the check-valve 42 and downward in the water-heating tank 36 and back through the circulating pump 35 by the pipe 34 to the chamber 20, thus storing heat in the tank 33. This natural circulation is indicated by the dotted arrowheads in the drawing.

The heat stored in the water-heating tank 36 is communicated to a hotwater coil 43 in the tank 36, the upper end of which coil is connected by a pipe 44 with the hot water system of the building. The lower end of this coil 43 is connected by a pipe 45 with the lower end of the hot water storage tank 43, whose upper end is connected to the above mentioned hot water pipe 44 by the pipe 4?. The cold water supply pipe 43 is connected to the pipe 45 as Well as to the delivery pipe 34. Provision for taking care of the expansion of the water in the whole system is provided by a suitable expansion tank 49 suitably located and connected to the pipe 37 by a pipe 50.

The electric current comes to the house over the two main line wires 5| and 52 which lead directly to the two switches 53 and 54. A branch line 55 leads through the manually operated switch 58 to the fan motor It. A transformer 57 is mounted in the said main line and is adapted to step down the voltage thereof. The secondary line 58 of the transformer 5'! has two branches 55 and 60. The branch 59 leads through a thermostat 6i mounted on the outside of the hot-water tank 36 and thus to the relay coil 62 governing the switch 53. This switch controls the line 33 leading through the solenoid 3i and the fuel motor 25 in series. The branch leads through the room thermostat B4 to the relay coil 65 governing the switch 54. This switch 54 controls the line 68 leading to the motor 48 which drives the circulating pump 35.

Thus it will be seen that the temperature of the water is maintained at a constant desired degree by the automatic control of the burner by starting or shutting on" the motor 25; and that the temperature of the room is maintained at a desired constant point by the control of the circulation of the hot water in the heating pipes I by the starting or shutting off of the motor 40 operating the circulating pump 35, and that, in this way, the house has a constant supply of hot water, summer and winter. It is also evident that the quantity of fuel burned is reduced by the conserving of the heat in the combustion chamber by the automatic closing of the opening 21 by the demagnetization of the solenoid 3| when the fuel motor 25 is stopped, thus utilizing the imprisoned heat which would otherwise be wasted up the chimney.

We claim:

In a heating system, the combination of a water heater; a floor; a series of cross-passages on the under side of the floor; a series of longitudinal passages under said cross passages and connected thereto; hot-water heating-pipes mounted in said longitudinal passages; pipes connecting said water heater with the heatingpipes, whereby the heated water is conducted to and from said heating-pipes and said heater; a motor-driven fan; an air receiving chamber for said fan; a connection between said longitudinal passages and said air receiving chamber; a fresh air conduit leading to said air receiving chamber; a controlled doorway between said fresh air conduit and said air receiving chamber, whereby a controlled quantity of fresh air may be circulated by said fan with the air from the longitudinal passages; a delivery register in the floor; and a passage connected with the delivery side of said fan and with the delivery register whereby, when said motor-driven fan is operated, fresh air is drawn from the conduit and delivered above the floor.

JOHN R. MONROE. JOHN D. IJONROE. 

